My Sushi experience

Hello, 

I'm quite excited and equally nervous about this blog. I'm not too sure if I can make the most of it or if I'm even meant to be doing anything of this sort but it'll definitely kill my curiosity and I'm a highly curious person.

 Starting with my first post I thought I'd share my first (to me) exciting experience. It's going to be a bit longer than usual so bare with me. I understand, to many it's extremely common but I've grown up in an environment at home where it's always "be safe rather than sorry". It's only recently that my love for food has driven me to get out there and get my taste buds to socialize with everything that's edible. This time it was the famous (or infamous) Sushi! Yes, it's a shocker that at 20, it was a challenge to try it out. I've had many people force me to try it out and finally, I decided to wait for my friend who lives in London to return and try it out with her. To be honest, I was fearful of the whole idea hence the dependency of someone far away from me...the thought of raw fish kind of disgusted me. I had all sorts of ideas about sushi that could drive a sane person away from it or ruin a normal appetite but the curiosity of the dish troubled me for long and it was about time. 


We went to a near-by Japenese chain called SUMO in Sharjah,UAE. A friend familiar with the restaurant's do's and don'ts to avoid wasting money into something that wouldn't work at all as a beginner and a good company makes it all the more better. Note: always take a friend who loves sushi rather than someone who's as new as you; they're likely to ruin the experience by making faces at the attendant or when food arrives that alone kills the desire to eat and then have them make a troubled stomach face while eating - certainly not a good sight. Anyhow, as we held the menu, we took a while as there was a wide range to choose from. Finally, we ordered Crunchy Crazy (Shrimp tempura covered with sweet chili sauce and drizzled with teriyaki sauce) - quite fancy looking with raw onions on the side, Rock and roll (fresh tuna, salmon, avocado covered with crunchy tempura), another dish that's name I've forgotten probably the "Ninga" (shrimp tempura and mayo roll layered with spicy tuna) a green salad, lemonade for my friend and Coke for me.  If you look at the picture it looks like an appetizing meal and it was!

As you can see a few of the rock and roll have vanished even before I could click a picture. As challenging as it was, I must say it wasn't as terrifying as I thought. My first bite was a bit hard to take in; I was a bit embarrassed of making the poo face (that was certainly the idea in my head) but I settled to the thought of being honest. I wanted to try them all to be able to comment and gradually it was growing on me. I managed to switch my taste with salad and coke and bites of sushi. A green salad is a good balance with anything new and with a dine out at Sumo the lovely Japanese green salad with ginger sauce and fresh avocado is definitely a must have. Everyone should try it out specially the crunchy flaky tempura sushi which in my opinion is the best one - highly recommended for beginners. It was all in all a satisfying meal. Not a HUGE fan yet but something I'd enjoy occasionally. Once I'm hooked on it, maybe I'll decide to learn to make it myself. Untill then, next sushi stop in Dubai: Okku!

Tempura: Any seafood, meat, vegetables dipped in thin battered and deep fried.

-A-